Top producer Josh Weinberg of Weinberg Choi Residential leads his team each morning in a moment of gratitude. His goal is to donate some of his profits, every single day, to charities in line with his team’s values. The passion and enthusiasm Josh lives translates into high production and satisfied clients. If you need a boost to remember how fortunate we all are, and how to use that same energy to service your buyers and sellers, listen to this interview!
Josh Weinberg can be reached at 312.448.7000 or info@weinbergchoirealty.com.
Transcript
D.J. Paris 0:15
Hello, and welcome to another episode of Keeping it real. The only podcast for Chicago real estate agents made by Chicago real estate agents. My name is DJ Paris, I am your host through the show. If you’re not familiar, this is your first time listening. What we do is interview top Chicago real estate brokers and ask them what they’re doing. How did they build their business? How are they servicing their clients in the hope that you can take some ideas from these, these conversations and use it to elevate your own practice. I have a couple of quick announcements, actually one major announcement. So we’re adding a new segment to the show. It’s launching in just a few weeks, and it’s called the Monday market minute. And it’s with a previous guest who is now going to be a regular guest on the show Carrie McCormick, another superstar producer broker in real estate. And we had such a great interview the first time it Carrie said I want to do this all the time. So once a month, the first Monday, Carrie is going to be in and I are going to be doing the show she’s going to be giving what we call the Monday market minute, which is essentially here’s what’s happened over the last month in Chicago real estate news. And here’s what she predicts is happening in the next month. And it’s going to be really exciting. I’m so really honored that she decided to do that. Also, she’s going to be answering your questions. So if you’re interested in you know, always wanting to ask a top producer, what they’re doing on a regular basis, or any question that you think they would be equipped to answer, please send us your questions, we’re gonna be answering them live on the show. And you know, we we would be happy to do that. I’m also going to be giving a marketing tip of the week as well. So that’s launching in a few weeks. Stay tuned for it. And if you have a question that you’d like to submit, the easiest way to do it, there’s a lot of ways to send questions to us. But you can always visit our website, keeping it real pod.com. So again, keeping it real pod.com. All of our social media links are on their Facebook, Twitter, we have a contact form, we have an email, so send us your questions, and Carrie will answer them live on the show. One way that you can help support the show is to tell every broker you know who’s interested in learning from a top producer about the podcast, it’s free. We’re happy to do it for you. And our numbers are growing so quickly. We can’t believe it. So thank you for anyone that has shared this podcast with someone else in their office and please continue to do so also, if you have any brokers that you think we should be interviewing for a future episode, you can submit those via social media or on our website as well. Today on the show, we have Josh Weinberg, it was one of the best conversations I’ve had with a top producer. And I’m really excited so we’re gonna get right to
it. All right, today on the show, we have Joshua Weinberg, Josh co founded the Weinberg Choi residential group in 2007. In January of 2017, Josh and his business partner Tommy Choi, announced that they have joined three other top producing brokers in Chicago to open the first Keller Williams Market Center in Lincoln Park, Weinberg Choi is ranked in the top 1% of the top producer teams as well as being featured in Chicago agent magazines who’s who every year for the past six years. Outside of work. Josh teaches a real estate course serves several Chicago based charities through his company’s monthly donation and volunteering initiative, and has appeared on HGTV house hunters and House Hunters renovation. Josh resides in Lincoln Park, as do I, with his wife, Erin, his son Dylan, his daughter, Paige and their dog, Yogi. Josh, welcome to the show. And thank you so much.
Josh Weinberg 4:04
Absolutely, DJ, I love what you guys are doing. I love how it’s putting out there into the real estate community. It’s all about right the mindset of abundance and helping each other and sharing and teaching. So I love what you guys are doing and I’m honored and I appreciate you guys having me on the show.
D.J. Paris 4:20
Well, I was just telling Josh this off air that he was at the very top of our list of people to get on the show and these you know, it’s funny. top producers are incredibly busy. So the fact that you and I you had some technical issues that I appreciate your patience through so but I really want to get right into the the meat of it. I want to hear your story about how you started how you ultimately partnered with Tommy. And do you mind sharing with us how you got into real estate?
Josh Weinberg 4:47
Yeah, absolutely. So first I’ll tell you about how I started in real estate. Then I’ll get into Tommy and my story and our come up right so. So I started working at Pulte Homes about two and a half weeks after I graduated college. from Bradley University and polti is what’s one of the biggest builders in the nation at the time. And even after what happened from 28 to 2012, they started acquiring other builders. And truly, if not the biggest in the nation or world, one of the best, biggest, most reputable builder, so the training, there was unbelievable, I got to learn every aspect of the business from, you know, running of community of hundreds of homes and construction, which I didn’t know anything about at the time and customer relations and how it all comes together. So one of the things that training was unbelievable, and that really set us up for success, once we did eventually start and open Weinberg toy Realty. But one of the memories I remember most was I was only a couple months out of college, by the time I was out of training, I was selling homes to people, my parents age, and you know, I was so fresh out of college, I was saying words like, look at this layout, isn’t it sick, and they laugh at me, you know, and I’d be built. And then I realized real quickly right, that I had not that I wasn’t professional, but that was just part of the vocab. So I learned really quickly how to relate to everyone and I love doesn’t matter whether someone’s was our age, walking through the door, younger, older, whatever, I loved it because I could build rapport with people at all ages. So that was amazing training experience which catapulted Tommy and I being able to do what we started. So Tommy and I went to college together, I’m gonna give you the abridged version here. Otherwise, we could go on for hours. But Tommy and I went to college together, we knew in college, we were going to go into business together, we just didn’t know what we were going to do at the time. And what happened was, everyone was coming to us for advice at the time, I was working at polti. Because Tommy and I both bought our homes, I was working in real estate, Tommy was an IT technology. And he everyone knew that he had a passion for real estate. So everyone was coming to ask us asking us questions like why are you not asking your realtor these questions? And, you know, there was a number of different answers that we heard. And finally, we looked at each other like, Alright, let’s do this. So we both come from very entrepreneurial backgrounds. And we this was 2007. I remember both of us going to our parents to tell them about what were the journey we were about to go on. And our parents were super supportive of us. They said to us, so you know, you’re about to start a real estate business and what’s about to be the worst market ever. Right? Right, TJ and for us, for us, we looked at this as an opportunity, right? Because we knew that no matter what the market conditions were, no matter what was going on, we were kind of oblivious to it from the standpoint of I came into the real estate market, no four, I saw building at an all time high. So I saw it really strong. I learned a lot. We saw it in oh seven. And, you know, again, we looked at as an opportunity, maybe we were a little naive, we were younger, but we looked at as like, okay, doesn’t matter what the market conditions are, if we always put our client’s best interest first, truly, the sky’s the limit. So as the market turned, we knew that as the market turns, we’re not going to be as affected by that being that we’re doing what’s right from the start putting our client’s best interest first. And at the end of the day, people want to work with someone that they trust, they’re knowledgeable and that they feel comfortable with. And as the market turned, we knew the sky was the limit as it did get stronger.
D.J. Paris 8:02
Yeah, in a way, it was probably pretty beneficial. Because also you had this giant weed out of brokers around that when the market did turn, a lot of people left the industry which opened up opportunities for you know, brokers who, like yourself, who are younger and hungry, and also didn’t have bad habits from from the past. So I imagine that was really worked to your benefit, but certainly, and I also to like if you can make it in the biggest downturn in the market in our lifetime, then you can certainly make it in better times as well.
Josh Weinberg 8:34
Absolutely. I mean, that was a blessing in disguise, right? Like, again, our parents knew, knew and know a lot more than we do. And but they still support us. 110% right. And for us, though, we were like okay, as Thankfully we’re blessed that year over year, we were growing, right and seeing really good growth because we were putting we were hustling, we were really out there meeting as many people as possible. And again, really, truly putting our clients first. But as some people were getting out of the business or officer were getting smaller, we were seeing growth, which was awesome. And we were blessed for so
D.J. Paris 9:05
and let’s talk about you know, some of the things that you guys do that you feel separates you from other brokers who you know, obviously or, and it’s funny too, I was going to say competition, that that, you know, there is competition, of course, however, what I tend to experience when I interviewed top producers, is they don’t really think much about competition. They don’t see it as competition. But what do you guys feel that you do that is unique and provides so much value that’s helped propel your success?
Josh Weinberg 9:31
So great question. You know what, real quick, you mentioned, you know, competition, right? And I’ll say this, this is one thing I think has has been a it’s one of the biggest, most important, most unbelievable things that as kind of has has set us up for successes. We’ve never looked at anyone in the industry as competition, right? Instead, we’ve embraced it. We’ve looked at everyone as colleagues and we’ve built really, really, really good relationships with everyone in the industry. And it’s important on so many levels. And you know what it’s like? Yes, there is a there’s 14,000 members, the Chicago Association of Realtors, and yes, we see the same people day in and day out. But ultimately, that’s even more why it’s important to have these relationships where, and this is, this is a big benefit to our clients and, and when we’re explaining this to our clients, why that’s important is, you know, especially in this climate, right, where we’re seeing a lot of multiple offers, right, and we’re walking into a property and there’s multiple offers or serious interest. When my clients when we write an offer, the other agents know that our clients are knowledgeable, they’re qualified, it’s going to be a win win, it’s going to be a smooth transaction. So from that standpoint, you know, it’s such a big benefit, even on the listing side for our listings, other other realtors come in knowing that they can feel very confident bringing their clients in and writing an offer, because they know it’d be a smooth win win. Truly, everyone feel good about it. So I’m glad you mentioned that. And it is we’re super blessed to be in in the most amazing real estate market and city in America, where there’s so many amazing people that honestly we look at as mentors, and we have from day one. And that’s a big reason for our learning curve. We we’ve mastermind with people from all different offices, we get together, we share best practices, see what’s going on how we can all support each other. And it’s amazing. So, you know, I know that was kind of a little different than what your question was about? What do we do different? You know, I mean, honestly, at the end of the day, the most important thing to us, is our client having the perfect real estate experience. Okay, sure. And what that means to one person is totally different from someone else. So, you know, for us a huge reason for our growth and our success. And I guess that’s all relative, right, is that we’re out there meeting as many people as possible. And one thing Tammy has done, he set a goal three years ago to meet 365 new people a year, right, so one a day. And it’s all about helping others, seeing what we can do for others. And we kind of compare it to like the ATM machine, right? It’s like making deposits to other people, how we can help them out not because we want anything in return, but truly because we want to help them out. And I think that’s a reason for success is because we’re not giving we’re coming from contribution, right? We’re helping people because we want to help them, the result of that is people truly want to work with you, and then help you in any way possible. But that’s not the reason we’re doing it. So, you know, I’d say that’s a huge reason for our success, like I mentioned, one is it’s just the amazing people in our industry and in our in our Market Center at Keller Williams that we’re learning from, to is just like I said, just coming from contribution, always seeing how we can help others. And three, we’re blessed to have a team that shares our vision that we couldn’t do this without our team, because everyone on our team is just as important as the next person. And honestly, it’s that our clients don’t just say, Josh, Tommy or this person, it’s the wind virtual residential team, because everyone on our team shares the same vision and cares just as much as the next person about our clients having the perfect real estate experience.
D.J. Paris 13:04
Yeah, I think that’s so important. And he said, so, so many wonderful things, you know, number one, you’re right competition is maybe you know, it’s not certainly not the way you look at other realtors. And it is funny, because when you’re working with the realtors, that a transaction is called a cooperative commission, because you are supposed to be cooperative, right? It’s an even in the Word. But just in the idea of having a mission and your group having that and that everyone is aligned to that same vision is really important. And obviously you can you can hear the passion in the way you communicate. And also, it’s clear that you guys have have values that you try to, you know, live by, with respect to how you treat your clients and business. And as a result, you know, obviously you’re you’re meeting those goals and people are just inherently wanting to work with, you know, someone who’s who’s that well defined and provides that much value. Totally DJ
Josh Weinberg 13:58
and here’s the thing for us, the the wind virtual residential team’s mission is to build legacies for our clients, our team, our family and friends bought through providing the perfect real estate experience, right. So that is super important to us. And that’s something that we let our clients and our network and our raving fans know.
D.J. Paris 14:18
Hey, Josh, I know one of the things you’re incredibly passionate about is what you call 365 Days of Giving. And can you tell us a little bit about that program and what that means to you and your team.
Josh Weinberg 14:30
So 365 Days of Giving is what I’m most proud of. We’re super blessed for all the awards and praise and in you know, recognition we’ve gotten locally nationally on the state level. What I’m most proud of is our 365 Days of Giving Program. We started this last year. The best part about it is is not only do we get to build these amazing memories with our team where we get to Team Build and truly work as a unit right to to make lunches or what we’re doing with it is right every month we’re supporting a different organization whether it at the Ronald McDonald House, we’ve done Habitat for Humanity. Nora project, amazing organization we supported in a charity golf outing a couple of months ago. You know, the Lincoln Park, food pantry, Jewish Food Pantry, all different organizations. And what we do is we find, you know, organizations near and dear to our team’s heart or people within our office in our Market Center here at Keller Williams. And it’s amazing because one, not only do we get to give back to the community that we live in, and, and see what the appreciation people give for just us being there and spending time and or raising money, but it’s amazing because we can get our clients and our business partners and our people and our friends involved to a lot of people want to give back or donating. They just don’t always know how to get involved. And this is a way that we can all do it together. So super proud of our team for being all in on this everyone’s so excited about every event we’re doing in every way that we can be together. And it’s something that we’re going to continue to grow and continue to raise more money. And I’m that’s what I’m most proud of, for our for our team and what we’re building.
D.J. Paris 16:03
Yeah, I think that’s wonderful. And it’s also incredibly, it comes up time and time again, when I talk to top producers, this idea of giving back whether it’s, you know, supporting a charity or an organization or a cause, there always seems to be time to do that. And it seems to also be, you know, resounding among all the top producers I speak with this ultra fulfilling part of their business. And it’s, it’s, it’s something you know that when you find passion to do it, it’s I always say like you guys don’t have time to do that yet you find time. And I think and just you know, to hear the authentic part of, of you saying that, hey, this is even the most important thing, maybe we do, I think is so wonderful. And let’s talk a little bit about the abundant mindset that that you guys have really cultivated and and tell me a little bit about sort of how that’s helped you guys in your business? Yeah,
Josh Weinberg 16:57
well, I mean, here’s the thing, okay. I think it all has to do with who you surround yourself with, right? So you’re the sum of the averages of the five people you’re around the most. And when you’re around people who are great human beings who want to support others and give back, it’s a lot easier. It’s like this, okay, if I’m sitting down at a table with five billionaires, I’m walking out of there, the sixth, right? So from that standpoint, it’s like, okay, when I’m around people who want to share and teach and give back and are always in the Learning Zone, it’s easy to want to help others because that’s the kind of environment that you’re in. So from the standpoint of mindset of abundance, right? It’s more about, like, how can we help and writers kind of goes back to making those deposits, you know, we start our day off our team, our team huddle every single day, we start our day off with gratitude, okay? And we go around, and we talk about something that we’re all grateful for. And it’s important, not only because we have a roof over our head, and we get we have food that we get to eat, especially with what’s going on right now in Houston and everything. But also just it starts the day off. It’s making those deposits, right. It’s like, it’s almost like at night before you go to bed, you had a crazy stressful day. Rather than sitting there going to bed thinking about all this stuff, you almost need to make cash out and say something and think positive thoughts, right? So mindset of abundance is is so important, because the people that you’re around every day and the environment you’re in, that’s not only changing who you are, maybe professionally, but on it’s a personal development to your to your life, whether it’s with family, friends, you know, everything. It’s just, it’s so important to give back. And you know, the class I teach at car at Chicago Association of Realtors, I’ve had people come up to me at the break in the lab, they’ll ask me questions like, hey, just curious, like, why are you sharing this stuff with me? And I’m like, you know, we’re gonna use this right? I’m like, That’s the entire reason I’m here right now, the purpose is, is to help give back and to make our real estate community better. I want you to use this otherwise, it’s silly for me to be here if you’re not going to use this. So it’s it’s different people have different mindsets and how they view it, but it’s all about giving back and putting good out into this world.
D.J. Paris 18:56
Yeah, you’re so right. I was actually it’s just perfect timing, because I was just talking about this last night with somebody the idea of gratitude. And it’s been very popular in sort of, in the pop psychology movement over the last many, many years. And so there’s gratitude journals and gratitude courses. And, you know, I sort of think about why is that so successful? Like, why does that work for so many people? And I think what it does, or one of the things it does, aside from, you know, aside from filling you up with the feeling of gratitude, it also helps keep things in perspective. Right. So you’re, you know, you mentioned that the people suffering right now in Houston. Well, yeah, to be grateful that hey, I’m not currently in that reality or to be grateful that maybe I can contribute and help in some way or just you know, to keep those people in mind. Even just sending you know, whatever positive thoughts their way is really helps just keep perspective of, oh, maybe my, you know, problems aren’t as great as or you know, and it helps kind of reset the playing field and, and at least that’s what it does for me. And I think you know, for me, I mean, I don’t know if you can relate, but I get sometimes lost in my own stuff. And I make it very important. And oh my gosh, this didn’t work out. And it’s the end of everything. And usually it isn’t. And it’s more often just me forgetting that the bigger picture is, gosh, I have a lot of things that I should be really, really grateful for proud of. And, you know, so I was thinking a little bit about that yesterday, just timing wise.
Josh Weinberg 20:26
Oh, I couldn’t agree more like, totally agree. And DJ, the thing is, is like we all every one of us gets really caught up on some of the small things and the small details, and it’s easy to let that take over. And it’s it. There’s times where things like what’s going on in Houston puts things in perspective, and you realize, like, okay, that is not the biggest deal. And, and everyone, it’s not saying that one thing is more important than the other. It’s just that you realize, truly, it puts things in perspective. And, and here’s the most amazing thing, right? There’s so much going on in our world right now, always. And then you see these times where these critical times like what’s going on Houston, and you see everyone come together, right? And, and whether it’s through social media or not like I’ll just give you an example. Like one of my friends, family members were stranded in a home the other day with four adults, six kids and a dog. And I reached out to a friend in Houston. And literally, he started blasting it out to everyone who’s got a boat that can come to this address, everything ended up being fine, they ended up getting rescued by the National Guard, but to see everyone come together, that’s mindset of abundance, right? Like that is it’s just so amazing that we can look at all the negativity that and all this stuff that goes on or instead you can flip it right, and it can look at it. Really Wow, there’s amazing human beings in this world. And that’s what I love about what we get to do is that we get to meet people every day. And there’s so many amazing people. And I’m super grateful and blessed that we get to do that. And, and honestly, I’ll tell you this, and this kind of all kind of goes back to this, I’d say in general, not just real estate, not just life, not just business. All of this is 90% mindset, you can have someone who’s extremely talented, extremely knowledgeable, and who just doesn’t have the right mindset. And then you have someone who’s pretty talented. They have an amazing mindset where it’s super, like they can literally, they’ve come in with such a positive attitude. They’re truly believing that positive things are going to happen. And they can say this is going to happen instead of saying, Oh no, this is gonna happen. And truly, it’s 90% mindset, especially in our business.
D.J. Paris 22:29
I couldn’t agree more. I’ve always said mindset or attitude, Trump’s talent, most of the time, not all, not every single time, but most of the time and nearly all the time. I’d say, you know, if I was hiring somebody in or import or import or import or import or important for me to get a sense of their, their attitude, and then what their actual, his actual mental or intellectual talents might be. So I’m absolutely in the same in the same camp. Awesome. Let’s talk also tell me, tell me the you know, you mentioned Well, you haven’t mentioned on the show, but you you had written me and said you wanted to talk about iron sharpening iron. So tell me what that means.
Josh Weinberg 23:15
Yeah, I mean, I think this, a lot of this kind of goes together, right? And, and I think the key is here is right, it’s like, when you surround yourself around people that are better and smarter than you, whether it’s on your team and life, you’re gonna like I was saying before you become a better person, or a better business person or a better realtor, or whatever it is, right, a better father, right? When you’re around people that are doing being a great father, it’s easier to be a good father, when you see what they’re doing. And for us, we always want to surround ourselves with who are smarter better than us at certain things so we can get better. And iron sharpens iron. I mean, truly, if you’re around people who are better and smarter than you or do or doing things at a very high level. It’s amazing because at the Keller Williams Chicago, Linkin Park Market Center, what everyone’s curating here so special, because there’s so many things that people are better at than me. And the greatest thing is that I can learn how to be better in every aspect. And, and it’s awesome because everyone has that mindset of abundance, where they want to teach where they want to share and they’re also in their learning. So right every day we wake up and we’re in the Learning Zone and just being around people who want to help that are better than me. That’s me getting better and stronger in every aspect of my life. So that really defines iron sharpening iron.
D.J. Paris 24:28
Yeah, no 100% agree. I know like I play tennis and I actually play right here in Lincoln Park. And if I’m playing I try to play as best the most you know, as most often as I can with people who are better than me, or at least just slightly better than me they might not always want to play somebody weaker. But I try to I try to find people that are just slightly better and I always play better when I win you know, it’s forces me to step up and and also learn from from people who are better otherwise if I’m and it’s okay to play with, you know, like in this case with the tennis metaphor, like a weaker player. From time to time, it’s fine. It’s absolutely okay. I just find that I don’t play as well. So, you know, that’s, that’s definitely I definitely agree. In the business metaphor too. I’ve always this is the reason why we talk we’re doing this podcast is I want to, you know, get some of these ideas out to brokers that are struggling, because not everyone is is, you know, having immediate success. And I know you guys didn’t necessarily have immediate successful, but you’ve done incredibly well. But you even jokingly were talking about how, you know, when you guys first started, you spent a lot of time at Panera because, you know, there was free Wi Fi and, and, and coffee, bottomless coffee. Can you talk a little bit about what advice you’d have for somebody who’s new and struggling? Who you know, and you’ve given a lot of great advice already, but it’s anything immediately come to mind that you’d really encourage someone to do?
Josh Weinberg 25:51
Yeah, absolutely. Okay. So there’s so much that I can share, because we’re failing every day and learning from it. Right. And that’s how we’re getting better is from being willing to take that risk to take those mistakes, because we’re gonna continue to make those mistakes. I think the biggest piece of advice that I that Tommy and I both got from one of our mentors, Ron Weiss, he’s not he’s in a completely different industry, is he he has an amazing t shirt, screen printing business and on the north side, and he told us this advice. And rather than getting super detailed on his story, I’ll tell you how it related to ours. Sure. He told us, right, I remember we were meeting with him, we were in there considering doing some T shirts. And he’s been a mentor for us. And he didn’t even realize he was our mentor, which even shows how awesome it was. Right? Yeah, he said to us. Don’t compare yourself to everyone else in the industry, meaning this, our industry is super transparent. You can look at anyone’s numbers, you’re looking at what everyone’s doing. You can compare yourself to what everyone else is doing. What he said is, is just focus on being the best version of yourself and being better than you were the day before. Because when you do that it’s a win win. Right? And if you’re focusing that your energy on Oh, how can I be better than this other person, you’re really not focusing on that self development of being a better version of yourself. So that’s the one of the biggest pieces of advice, because it’s really easy to look around either your team, your office, your friends, your colleagues, and say, Oh, wow, that person is doing that. And why aren’t I doing that? So instead, flip and be like, Okay, this is how I was last week. And now I’m better at this. Right. That’s probably the biggest piece of advice that someone get that Ron gave us that I would want to pass along to anybody in any industry as a whole. Yeah. And
D.J. Paris 27:31
I want to piggyback on that, because you just touched on something that came up for me, which, what amazing advice that is, and there’s an old expression, and I’m probably not getting it 100% accurate, but it’s the idea is, don’t compare your outsides with someone else’s outsides. But more importantly, don’t compare your insides with someone else’s outsides. In other words, you know, you’re talking about successes relative, right, and everyone’s got their own definition. And you may, no matter what your numbers might show, you might actually inside feel like, gosh, the person down down the hall in the bigger office, you know, who maybe does have bigger numbers, you know, is doing better than than me. And again, that’s it’s a bottomless pit of always feeling less than, and if you just focus on the discipline of getting better at your at wherever your you know, opportunities are to improve, you’re going to win.
Josh Weinberg 28:24
Yeah, and you know, a lot of people look at it, you’re right, you’re set. So true. And a lot of people look at it very short term, like, okay, I can accomplish this in one year. And a lot of people think they can accomplish a lot more in one year than they can because they wanted this instant gratitude. However, on the flip side, a lot of people don’t even realize they can accomplish a lot more in five years than they ever thought. So it’s working out a five year plan, and working backwards to figure it out. Right. I think that’s super important. I’d say, I’d say the one thing too, that’s really important is this and and Tommy and I I mean, we’re this is 100% off as we started, right? So Tommy just had his third daughter, Mayer. And you know, it’s amazing. And I have two children till on a page. And we want to be able to spend more time with their families and see them grow up and be there for those moments, right. And so it’s like, for a long time, we were running on pure talent, meaning, yes, we had an idea of what we wanted to do. But we didn’t time block out. We didn’t know what our schedule was every day what we were doing. And some people might think that’s boring, and especially someone like us who’d like to run around and love to see people and meet and interact and meet new people. The key is, is I think one of the biggest piece of advice is put these systems in place early. So right we’re going from E to P entrepreneurial to purposeful, meaning entrepreneurial, meaning you’re just running around on pure talent, purposeful, like having these systems that’s going to set you up for success not only for your team, your family, but for long term to scale up and build. And that’s one of the biggest things we’ve learned in the last year, especially with putting these systems in place. And knowing that systems can always evolve. They’re always going to be evolve. It’s always going to be how you can make them better and and what we’ve learned is is what worked for us three years ago now Business wouldn’t work today. And what works today isn’t gonna work in two or three or four years based on our growth, and that’s okay. But it’s being open to change and knowing that you no matter what the more systems you have in place, the easier it’s going to be to be successful. And to have that work life balance, and to really continue to grow to the next level.
D.J. Paris 30:18
Yeah, I absolutely. And I just love the fact that I want it. You said it very quickly earlier in the in the conversation, but I don’t want I want to revisit it just briefly, because a lot of times new brokers in particular, like alright, what do I do? And you know, here you guys are so many years later, eight, or gosh, you guys are 10 years in, right? Or this is I guess, maybe you’re 100/11 year. And, and you’re still Tommy, his goal is to meet 365 new people in the next you know, 365 days, right? So a person a day, that is that is a system. Now, having, figuring out how to do that, obviously, is its own challenge. But the discipline of fun of the fundamental that you know, is going to ultimately help you get more business is so important. And I love the fact that you know, 11 years in and you’re already a top producer, you guys are still like, okay, every day we have to meet at least one new person, which is not easy to do, but is an incredibly simple tangible goal. It’s a system. And I love that.
Josh Weinberg 31:20
Absolutely, absolutely. I’d say this, like, you know, every day and whether whether it’s someone on your team, your office, another office, it’s it’s important to have mentors inside outside the industry, people you can mastermind and share with right and for me, part of what I love and part of our Y is doing this with everyone that we’re doing it with and most people that know me, well know that my favorite band is fish, right. And one quote that they say is, it’s not an experience if you can’t bring someone along. And to me, to me that’s like that’s what it’s all about right is just being in it with people that you want to do this with, that you want to be around every day that you want to support and you want to help them achieve their dreams, you want to help them build a legacy for them and their family. So when people on our team doubt, 20 3040 years down the road. Legacy doesn’t just mean money or financial, it means that person made a difference in so many people’s lives. And when they say their name, whether it’s Stephanie on our team, Ariana, Krista, Hannah Paul, anyone on our team, they know that’s, that’s building a legacy, right and leaving a legacy.
D.J. Paris 32:25
Yeah. And wisdom from birds of a feather which I took me a moment to recall the song. But I love that. Yeah, I just went to my it’s embarrassing. I’ve been playing guitar for almost 30 years. Obviously I most guitar players are fans of fish as well, I would think and I just went to my first show in San Francisco about a year ago, it’s embarrassed to admit it’s taken me that long, but But you know, that’s it’s a good metaphor. And it’s absolutely true. And it carries over. You know, again, passion is so impassioned and mission and philanthropy I would say are three of the top values you guys have. And it’s so important. And you know, it’s it’s infectious. And I’m sure your clients would would say, obviously would say the same I imagine a good percentage of your guys’s business is referrals. If it’s not 100% it’s got to be close. And I’m sure that you know that speaks to obviously the value you’re creating. Speaking of that, if we do have buyers and sellers who want to to reach out to you what’s the best way they should get in touch?
Josh Weinberg 33:28
Absolutely, yeah, thanks. I appreciate I appreciate the shout out there’s a love. So you can either call me anytime 312-224-8905 You can visit our website at Weinberg choi.com. You can email me at Josh at Weinberg, Troy realty.com. If you want, if I can help in any way or support you or be there as your mentor or help you set goals, I’m happy to whether you’re in the industry, whether it’s anything I can do I truly truly mean that I love that I love giving back. Like I said, coming from contribution is so huge. And DJ, you’re awesome, man, I appreciate you guys doing what you’re doing and putting out so much good into this world for our community and our industry. And, and just thank you so much for having me. I’m honored to be on here. And I appreciate you guys.
D.J. Paris 34:12
It’s on our honor as well. And thank you again to Josh and also Tommy who isn’t on on the call. But we appreciate you know his contributions as well. So Oh, and real quickly before we sign off, you know, you mentioned that you teach at car occasionally is how would people become aware of those classes if they were to want to look to see the next time you guys are going to be down there? Yeah, for sure.
Josh Weinberg 34:37
So if you go to Chicago realtor.com The name of the class and I teach it with Janine McShea who is an awesome, awesome, awesome person. We wrote the class together with people from car. It’s amazing class, it’s showing, you can go to Chicago realtor.com. And you’ll see anytime we’re teaching it if you look up the roadmap of a transaction, in addition to that there are endless opportunities for training and classes here at our market center, Lincoln Lincoln Park doesn’t matter what company you’re at, I highly recommend you going you’re going to learn its way amazing business thinking you can learn on so many levels both personal development, professional development. So reach out if you need any of that information.
D.J. Paris 35:18
Well, and I’ve always said I think that one of the best books if not probably the, I’ll say to me, it’s the best book and maybe there’s a better one that but I haven’t yet found it. You know, Gary Keller wrote Millionaire Real Estate Agent, it’s about as good as it gets, with respect to what every broker should be reading and obviously, I’m sure some of those classes are built upon those those same principles and, and texts. So yeah, so Josh, once again, I know you’ve already said they have said goodbye that you but we just wanted to say thanks one more time. And again, visit Josh at Weinberg, Choi realty.com. And thank you so much for being on the show.
Josh Weinberg 35:54
Oh, thank you. We appreciate you guys.
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